Texas Dermatological Society President Issues Urgent Request

Dr. Michael Wilkerson, Texas Dermatological Society President and Associate Professor of Dermatology at UTMB has issued an urgent request for Texans to contact their State Senator regarding SB 329:

As you know, the Texas Dermatological Society is helping to lead the effort to ban minors under 18 from using indoor tanning devices. We can make Texas the next state to protect its youth from these dangerous devices. However, we can't do it without your help.

Late last night, it was announced that the Texas Senate will vote on SB 329 by Sen. Joan Huffman as early as tomorrow.

The tanning industry is mounting an all-out effort to stop this bill. They have been spreading misinformation about the benefits of indoor tanning. If we do not respond to their barrage of misinformation and calls, our bill will die on the Senate floor.

In 2013, there will be over 76,600 new melanoma cases diagnosed in the U.S. of which 3,930 of those melanoma cases will be reported in TX. The state will have the 4th highest number of new melanoma cases in the United States.

Please take a few minutes of your time to email or call members of the Texas Senate and ask them to please support SB 329. 

Attached is a list of the Texas Senators and their contact information. 

Talking to a Senate’s staff can be just as important as talking to a Senator.

Also, you did not need to contact Sen. Huffman our bill sponsor.

Thank you,

     Michael Wilkerson, MD

     President, Texas Dermatological Society

Here is the list of Texas State Senators with their telephone numbers and email addresses:

Senator Brian Birdwell (R) - Grandbury

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0122
Email:	brian.birdwell@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Donna Campbell (R) – New Braunfels

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0125
Email:	donna.campbell@senate.state.tx.us

Senator John Carona (R) - Dallas

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0116
Email:	john.carona@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Wendy Davis (D) – Fort Worth

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0110
Email:	wendy.davis@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Bob Deuell (R) – Greenville

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0102
Email:	bob.deuell@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Robert Duncan (R) - Lubbock

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0128
Email:	robert.duncan@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Rodney Ellis (D) - Houston

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0113
Email:	rodney.ellis@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Kevin Eltife (R) - Tyler

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0101
Email:	kevin.eltife@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Craig Estes (R) – Wichita Falls

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0130
Email:	craig.estes@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Troy Fraser (R) – Horseshoe Bay

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0124
Email:	troy.fraser@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Sylvia Garcia (D) - Houston

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0106
Email:	sylvia.garcia@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Kelly Hancock (R) – North Richland Hills

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0109
Email:	kelly.hancock@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Glenn Hegar (R) - Katy

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0118
Email:	glenn.hegar@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D) - McAllen

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0120
Email:	juan.hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Joan Huffman (R) - Houston

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0117
Email:	joan.huffman@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D) – Brownsville

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0127
Email:	eddie.lucio@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Jane Nelson (R) – Flower Mound

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0112
Email:	jane.nelson@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Robert Nichols (R) - Jacksonville

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0103
Email:	robert.nichols@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Dan Patrick (R) - Houston

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0107
Email:	dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Ken Paxton (R) - McKinney

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0108
Email:	ken.paxton@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Jose Rodriguez (D) – El Paso

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0129
Email:	jose.rodriguez@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Charles Schwertner (R) - Georgetown

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0105
Email:	charles.schwertner@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Kel Seliger (R) - Amarillo

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0131
Email:	kel.seliger@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Larry Taylor (R) - Friendswood

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0111
Email:	larry.taylor@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Carlos Uresti (D) – San Antonio

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0119
Email:	carlos.uresti@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D) – San Antonio

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0126
Email:	leticia.vandeputte@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Kirk Watson (D) - Austin

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0114
Email:	kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Royce West (D) - Dallas

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0123
Email:	royce.west@senate.state.tx.us

Senator John Whitmire (D) - Houston

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0115
Email:	john.whitmire@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Tommy Williams (R) – The Woodlands

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0104
Email:	tommy.williams@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Judith Zaffirini (D) - Laredo

Capitol Phone:	(512) 463-0121
Email:	judith.zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us

National Psoriasis Foundation’s “Walk to Cure Psoriasis”

The UTMB DIG will be participating in the National Psoriasis Foundation’s “Walk to Cure Psoriasis” on April 20, 2013 in Houston, TX! We’ve set a team fundraising goal of $250.00 and would greatly appreciate it if YOU helped us reach our goal! In order to support our efforts, follow the following steps:

 

1. Go to: http://walk.psoriasis.org/site/TR/2013Walks/WalktoCurePsoriasis?team_id=25870&pg=team&fr_id=2010 

 

2. Click “Donate today”

 

3. Select or Enter a donation amount and follow the on-screen instructions to make your donation to the UTMB DIG team

 

Here are the details of the walk:

 

Where: Discovery Green Public Park, 1500 McKinney, Houston, Texas 77010

When: Saturday, April 20, 2013

Check-In: 8:00AM

Walk Begins: 9:00AM

Distance: 1K and 5K walks

 

Please contact UTMB DIG member Miranda Uzoma (mauzoma@utmb.edu) for questions and/or concerns regarding the walk!

Should Residents Conduct Research?

Possibly surprising to some readers of this blog, a controversy exists about whether residents should conduct research during residency. The current issue of JAMA (2013;309:1109-1110) includes a letter exchange between an opponent and a proponent of resident research during residency. Both authors seem to agree about time pressures placed on residents, yet they differ about the value of research for residents. It is an interesting read for those curious about this issue. Not addressed are residency programs that require research during residency. Are such programs ranked lower on match lists by applicants due to this additional academic requirement? It is also possible that such programs would be ranked higher by applicants interested in learning more about research and conducting their own investigations during residency. Perhaps applicants actively seek or avoid residency programs based on research requirements and their research skills? It looks like another study is needed to answer these questions!

"Stay Shady!" Goes to Central Middle School

On Tuesday, March 5, UTMB DIG member Dung Mac (MS1) taught approximately 100 fifth graders about the importance of sun safety at Galveston's Central Middle School.  This fun, interactive presentation is aimed at making kids aware that the sun can damage their skin and inform them how to protect themselves. Thank you to the students of Central Middle School for being such a great audience, and thanks to our volunteer! 

Rank List Procedures Differ Among Dermatology Residency Programs

There are probably as many different rank list protocols are there are dermatology programs submitting them to the NRMP. However, the type of process used by each institution is of interest to many dermatology applicants. The three main types seem to be:

 

Highly Centralized: The Chair and the Program Director (often times the same person) interviews all invited applicants and ranks them on certain criteria. High board scores, AOA membership, prestige of the medical school attended, advanced research degrees, previous fellowship training, research publications and the impression created at the interview are variables that can count the most. A variant of this is that the Chair/Program Director ask other faculty to interview and submit their preferences to the Chair/Program Director for final determination. Obviously, if the Chair/Program Director really likes an applicant based on these criteria, that candidate will probably obtain one of the available spots should she/he want it.

 

Shared Faculty Decision: In this model, applicants are ranked by the faculty after interviews. It is a more democratic system, since more than one or two faculty create the rank list. Sometimes residents are asked their opinions about applicants, but they do not vote. This is probably the most widely employed system currently. This process may be more unpredictable, since many faculty may be looking for different candidate strengths.

 

Decentralized: This seems to be the rarest selection process for dermatology departments. In this model, all of the dermatology residents and faculty jointly select applicants for interviews, and then all participate in the interview process. Following interviews, the residents and faculty meet to create the rank order list. Every doctor in the department has input about the applicants. One advantage of this model is that no one person controls the rank list. This process also will diminish the impact of outside parties who are determined to obtain an interview or high rank positions for their candidate. This selection process may favor internal and visiting rotation students who perform well on during their elective, because it permits the most interactions between the applicant and those making the rank list.

UTMB Changes Interview Process for Visiting MS4s during Upcoming 2013-2014 Academic Year

UTMB plans on going back to its traditional approach for interviewing visiting medical student from outside institutions during the upcoming 2013-2014 academic year. Visiting medical students taking any UTMB dermatology rotation will be automatically invited to interview with all of the dermatology faculty and residents during their 4 week rotation in Galveston. Those completing the interview process will be considered for the NRMP rank order list in February 2014. UTMB will continue to interview all of its own applicant MS4 medical students and UTMB housestaff during December 2013 and January 2014 at times that are mutually convenient for the student and the residents and faculty to meet. Residents and faculty familiar with our own student/housestaff applications may waive these interviews.

UTMB Dermatology Applicants Fare Well in 2013 NRMP

The UTMB DIG is delighted to report the following 6 UTMB MS4s successfully matched into dermatology residency programs in the 2013 NRMP:

UTMB

Elizabeth Drone

Alison Lowe

UT Houston

Hung Doan

UTSA

Sarah Pritchard

Henry Ford

Miranda Uzoma

UCLA

Patrick Armstrong

This dermatology match ties with the Class of 2011 at UTMB for the most matched MS4s for dermatology residencies on match day! Congratulations to all!

UTMB Fills 2014 PGY2 Dermatology Positions with Texas MS4 Applicants

Congratulations to Elizabeth Drone (UTMB), Emily Grimshaw (UT Houston), Alison Lowe (UTMB) and Tuvan Trinh (Texas Tech) for matching into the four PGY2 UTMB dermatology residency positions that start in July 2014. This is the first year that UTMB Dermatology has offered 4 advanced dermatology positions through the NRMP. Pictured left to right are: dermatology doctors and the new UTMB matches, Tanya Trynosky (PGY2), Ashley Group (faculty), Julie Martin (PGY4), Elizabeth Drone (MS4), Sharon Raimer (Chair), Alison Lowe (MS4), Mara Dacso (PGY4), Leslie Scroggins-Markle (PGY4), and Audra Clos (PGY2) at the UTMB Match Ceremony in Levin Hall.

 

 

SB 329 Advances Out of Committee for Texas Senate Consideration

Following testimony by Dr. Michael Wilkerson, SB 329 was passed out of committee and now goes before the full Texas Senate for consideration. This bill would ban tanning for Texans who are under the age of 18 years old. Dr. Wilkerson is currently President of the Texas Dermatological Society and Associate Professor of Dermatology at The University of Texas Medical Branch.